Hello Everybody,
Old newbie here considering purchase of a GT1000. I have been lurking on this great site for a while now and have kicked some tires at a local Duc dealer and am interested in the GT. As many others have commented, I am not enamored with the aesthetic of the rear fender on the GT as beautiful as the motorcycle is. By contrast the Biposto which to my eye is proportioned beautifully, has unliveable ergos for this old motorcyclist. I prefer the more forward foot pegs and higher standard handlebars on the GT. I also don't need the cafe style cowl in back...kind of like the retro standard ironing board seat. So...how does one surmount this dilemma? One option is to change out the foot controls and handlebars on the Biposto. I believe that option is expensive. The other is...remove the rear fender and install the Bioposto rear fender. There inlies my question please to those that have studied this as there has been much comment about the rear fender gap. Many if not all sport bikes and standards without swing arm mounted fenders have a substantial gap between fender and rear tire due to desired ride height and suspension travel. The execution of shape, proportion and scale is what differentiates a successful look from one that has elicited comments as with the GT. To me the most elegant solution is to install a Biposto rear fender on a GT. This doesn't change the gap of course but changes the shape of the rear fender to not describing the same arc as the rear tire and at least to my eye makes it much more appealing.
Question is...retaining the stock GT seat, does anybody know if the BiPosto fender is a direct bolt on to the seat of the GT? Since the tank and seat are different between Biposto and GT, don't want to entertain the idea of changing out the GT seat.
If anybody has studied this, please respond if you would.
Many Thanks,
George
Here is a link that discusses this:Sport1000 fender/tail section on GT1000
Below see the pic that DaveMcQueen photoshopped that looks so nice. Last pic is a stock GT which illustrates the dramatic increase in fender length and movement away from the rear tire.

For best perspective, if anybody has ETK access, posting views of the Biposto and GT in the context of fender attachment may answer the question as I presume others are interested in this.
Thanks,
George
P.S. I stumbled on the ETK pic below from another thread which shows some related parts but not the bolts and respective positions that connect either the BiPosto or GT fender to the frame.

Below is a picture to better illustrate how the GT1000 rear fender is attached to what appears to be only two eyelets through the rear tubular frame hoop section as shown in the ETK pic. This is the only view I could find on the web and blown up a bit to show the attachment. Have to believe the rear fender stays in place as the seat is removed and most likely the shape of the rear frame U section that retains the seat for the BiPosto and GT are the same....only a guess.
In summary it appears that both rear fenders should be interchangable to the back of a GT.
Any confirmation of this is appreciated.

Lastly, the remaining item to confirm would be the rear tailight assembly....to see if they are the same including license plate bracket between BiPosto and GT. Hard to tell from the pics but doesn't look like the rear tailight assembly is the same between the two bikes as I have to believe the matching rear fender surface is different in particular for fitment/clearance. It appears at least the license plate is separated from the tailight assembly on the GT. Does anybody know of an on line parts list where part numbers could be compared between the BiPosto and GT?
Thanks,
George

My plan is to trim the rear fender on my GT to just below the tail light. There's a local water-jet shop that I may take the fender to. I may move the plate up and sandwich it between the tail light assembly and the fender or I may just leave it where it is. I think the shorter rear fender will look pretty good.

Kinda unrelated question for you guys in the know. Are the exhausts on the new 1000 Biposto and the GT 1000 interchangable? The Biposto looks like they turn up but I'm not sure if it's just the pipe or the mounts. For that matter if it's the mounts are the OEM mounts interchangable? I love the Staintune pipes for the GT 1000 and wonder if they could be fit to the Biposto and if they could how they would look.

The prototype GT had the seat and rear fender that I wish the production models had (not to mention rims).

Jeff,
I think you may have the best solution...shortening the stock fender. I would however move the license plate bracket up to right under the tail light assembly to make it look a bit more tidy. It is really hard to believe that Ducati with their strong design heritage would release a rear fender for the GT1000 that clearly looks disproportionate relative to the rest of the bike. The prototype bike looks so much better. One's eye goes immediately to the rear fender gap with such a long fender following the curve of the rear tire.
By contrast, I believe looking at the prototype pic, the shortened rear fender looks even better then the mudflap from the Biposto. Reading through the archives a bit, I know the mud flap on the Sport 1000 bikes has been a source of some disdain and why many have removed it and gone with the tail light mod on the cafe style bikes. My personal opinion is...with the long front fender of the GT in particular and even with a shorter front fender, without some kind of fender in back the bike looks disproportioned...even with a rear cowling in back. Only my opinion. I photoshopped a shortened rear fender with moving the license bracket up to similate what yours may look like Jeff if you waterjet your rear fender. A suggestion would be to use the precise contour of the bottom of the fender as a stensil for the shortened bottom shape of the fender...what I used in the photoshop. The bike looks so much better balanced IMHO with a shorter rear fender and to my eye at least looks even better then the Biposto rear mudflap.
See a comparison pic below:
George

Kinda unrelated question for you guys in the know. Are the exhausts on the new 1000 Biposto and the GT 1000 interchangable? The Biposto looks like they turn up but I'm not sure if it's just the pipe or the mounts. For that matter if it's the mounts are the OEM mounts interchangable? I love the Staintune pipes for the GT 1000 and wonder if they could be fit to the Biposto and if they could how they would look.

Oilhead...not sure if the above is your bike or not, but I noticed that the license plate was moved up under the tail light without shortening the fender.
Compare the dramatic affect of a quick photoshop of the same bike which illustrates how shortening the rear fender makes a major change to the proportion of the bike.
George

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